


I Know How That Is

by RollZero



Series: Yona/Jae-ha Alternate Chapters [5]
Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Best Friends, Comfort, Declarations Of Love, Drama, F/M, Falling In Love, Family Drama, Family Feels, Feels, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Love Confessions, Romance, Unrequited Love, awkward confessions, girl talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 04:31:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12646146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RollZero/pseuds/RollZero
Summary: AU of Chapter 124 part of my Yona/Jae-ha Alternate Chapters Series. Takes place right before Hairpin of Memories, Yona & Lily's talk after their rescue from Sei goes quite differently when Lily figures out about Yona's secret relationship with her Ryokuryuu during their little girl talk. One Shot





	I Know How That Is

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday my beloved Bookman, this one shot is requested by my sweetheart and beta reader, my #1 fan and inspiration <3  
> So here we have the reimagining of Chapter 124, I’ve wanted to AU this conversation between Lily and Yona for a while, as I also reference it in Hairpin of Memories which this takes place right before that one shot. This might be shorter than most of the other one shots, but I hope everyone enjoys it ^^

In the land of the Water Tribe, it was shortly after nightfall when Princess Yona and her group arrived back in Sensui. She really wanted to go see Lily, but needed to recover first. The two girls had only recently been saved from the Sei Kingdom, where they both went for a long time without food or water, almost falling down from exhaustion. As the gang approached Lily's mansion, they also met up with two familiar faces.  
   
“Ayura! Tetora!” Yona cried as she ran up to the bodyguards of Lady Lily. “How is Lily? Is she doing well?”  
   
“She’s doing just fine.” Tetora giggled. “I’m sure she’ll be so happy to see you.”  
   
“We’ll go get her then, please wait here.” Ayura said, heading inside.  
   
“Let’s allow the ladies to have their girl talk, what do you say Hak?” Jae-ha suggested, patting the Lightning Beast’s shoulder. The Green Dragon knew that Yona was eager to see Lily and it was nice for the princess to have time with a girl around her age rather than all the men constantly.  
   
“You just want to see if Tetora has more wine to offer to us.” Hak remarked, glaring at him slightly.  
   
“All the more reason to go, wine and beautiful girls go so great together.” Jae-ha flashed a grin, then smiled at Yona as he gave her a wink.  
   
Yona flushed a bit and looked away, she knew Jae-ha was just saying that to get Hak to relax and come with him, but she couldn’t help her ping of jealousy she’d get when he’d still joke around about flirting. “Go ahead you guys, I’ll be fine.” She said with a smile.  
   
Hak twisted his mouth, of course he didn’t want to let the princess out of his sight after what had just happened recently, but he knew being with Lily might cheer her up some. “Alright, but don’t stay too long we should get going out of here soon.”  
   
“Thunder Beast just doesn’t want to let you out of his sight that’s all.” Yoon remarked. “Actually we could use to replenish our supplies before we hit the road.”  
   
“Princess if you need anything we’ll be nearby then.” Kija bowed, Shin-ah merely nodded to agree with him.  
   
“Come, come, let’s give the little miss some space.” Zeno chuckled, as the group left the princess by herself which right then Lily came running out to greet her.  
   
“ **Yona!** ” she cried.  
   
“Lily!” Yona cried, rushing over to hug her friend. “I’ve missed you!” she couldn’t help it, tears crept up in her eyes with relief seeing that she was safe. “Thank goodness… You seem well!”  
   
“I’m doing very well!” Lily replied, then chuckled when she saw her face. “Yona, it’s only been a little while since we last saw each other, but you’ve turned into a crybaby?”  
   
Yona giggled at that. “You’ve gotten so cool now, Lily!”  
   
“How are your injuries?” Lily asked, looking down at the princess’ ankle. “How do you feel when you move?”  
   
“I feel fine.” Yona answered as she pulled back, then groaned as she held her head. “… Ok I do feel a little light headed but that’s probably due to everything that happened.” She shrugged, taking a seat on the grass. “My stomach’s been upset for a few days but that’s probably due to going without food or water for a while when I was trying to avoid drinking the Nadai. Yoon gave me something for the stomach pains.”  
   
“It feels like so long ago, when we were in Sei Kingdom.” Lily brought up, sitting down next to her. “Are you sure you’re ok though? You looked like you were about to faint just now.”  
   
“I’m just exhausted a bit, I slept too much yesterday I guess.” Yona chuckled, waving a hand carelessly.  
   
“Anyway, listen, listen!” Lily smiled wide as she was excited to tell her friend about something. “Today, something really wonderful happened!”  
   
Yona blinked, surprised at that bright expression on her face. “What was it?”  
   
“The one I’m super-super-super incredibly in love with came to check up on me!” Lily exclaimed, holding her hands over her blushing cheeks.  
   
This was news to Yona, she had no idea that Lily was in love with someone. “Eh?! The one you love? What kind of person is he?”  
   
“Lord Geun-tae!” Lily cried, blushing more as she gushed over this, shaking her head and squealing.  
   
Yona blinked a few times, she remembered meeting the Earth General years ago and saw that time Hak defeated him in a tournament… But one thing especially stood out. “…. Ummmm Lily, Geun-tae is married you know?”  
   
Suddenly, Lily’s hands were around the princess’ throat. “I know already!” she growled.  
   
 _‘Good thing Jae-ha talked Hak into stepping away, he would have had a heart attack at this just now.’_ Yona mentally chuckled. The Water General’s daughter didn’t really have a strong grip on her, it just seemed like a reflex action and she quickly pulled her hands away.  
   
Lily then sighed and held her head low. “It happens, you know? People just fall in love even if it’s completely unrequited.”  
   
Yona stiffened a bit at that, recalling her one-sided love for Soo-won before and nodded with a sigh. “Yeah, it does happen.” She then smiled to herself though, glad that she had found a new love that was returned whole heartedly with Jae-ha.  
   
Lily continued to gush about the general she had a crush on. “Lord Geun-tae is so cool, anybody could fall in love with him!”  
   
Yona raised her eyebrow at that, not quite seeing it but didn’t want to hurt her feelings. _“R-right…”_ she merely replied. She always thought of Geun-tae like a distantly related uncle, he wasn’t bad but a bit strange she often thought. The redheaded princess was surprised how choked up Lily was getting while talking about this.  
   
“Today, Lord Geun-tae told me _‘You’ve become quite the woman!!’_ I couldn’t believe it!” Lily cried, closing her eyes as she was recalling it. She held her hands over her chest. “I thought my heart was going to explode! I couldn’t even look at him in the eye I was so nervous and embarrassed!”  
   
“Ehh? Well that’s wonderful he said that Lily!” Yona said with a surprised look on her face. “And I guess it’s normal for your heart to act like that when it’s the one you love…” she chuckled a bit.  
   
“I know right? It’s such a great feeling yet at the same time it’s scary.” Lily flushed as she continued to talk about this. “But it warms my heart so much the words just keep repeating in my head!”  
   
Yona giggled, she could relate to that. “I know how that is, I do it too.” She smiled. “Someone told me that I’m _‘The princess of his heart’_ and I can’t help but think about that over and over!”  
   
Lily blinked at that one. “… Who said _that_ to you?” She looked at the princess surprised. After all, she knew Yona was traveling around with a lot of men, but she denied being with any of them that way. Even though Yona explained this before, she was blushing quite a bit and dodged answering completely when she denied it. Also Lily could have sworn she heard Yona muttering something a few times in Sei, but she wasn’t sure what and wondered if it was her just thinking about what her love told her but _… ‘Wasn’t Yona in love with his Majesty Soo-won? Does that mean she recently got over him and already found someone else?’_ she really wanted to press this as Yona’s eyes widened when she had asked and grew silent as her blush kept on growing.  
   
On the other hand, Yona was in a state of panic _. ‘… W-WHY DID I LET THAT SLIP?!? Yona you idiot you’re supposed to keep that to yourself you dummy!’_ she shook her head as she continued to blush and then looked at Lily’s gaze that screamed she wanted to know… _‘Maybe it would be good to finally admit it to someone, as it would be nice to talk about this… I mean I still have to tell the others eventually but…’_ The redhead lowered her head a bit as she decided to answer her friend, she felt she could trust Lily with this secret, after all she helped save her life. “…. Jae-ha.”  
   
Lily’s eyes widened at that response. “ _Eh?! Wai- What?!? HIM?!_ ” she was completely shocked about this, when Yona said that she started suspecting it was maybe Hak but to hear that it was the green haired flirt that was a surprise to her. She then looked up in the direction the group of men were talking to her bodyguards a good distance away so they wouldn’t hear the girls. “You like him? Are you two lovers?!”  
   
Yona blushed madly when she asked that, and quietly shushed her. “ _Shhhh!_ Not so loud! Hak is waiting nearby so-!”  
   
 _“Wait…”_ Lily blinked at that. “… Are you two keeping it a secret?” she guessed. “And you didn’t answer me! Do you like him?”  
   
Yona blushed even worse as she looked away. _“… M-more than like…”_ she admitted, lowering her head a bit. “We… Well… W-we’re kind of secret lovers… The others don’t know so don’t say it too loudly!” she cried, looking back at her friend worried.  
   
“You little liar you!” Lily smacked the redhead’s shoulder and chuckled. “When I asked if there was one of those guys you were with you insisted you were all just friends! I knew there was more to you being with that many men that one just had to have taken your interest!”  
   
“I wasn’t lying Lily!” Yona protested, her cheeks still flushed. “At the time I was figuring out my feelings for him and I didn’t know how he felt about me! I thought he looked at me as a kid you know, he is older than me after all….” She looked away, still embarrassed talking about this.  
   
“So? Older men have lots of charm.” Lily stated rather seriously. “I don’t like most boys my age and especially not younger. I like men closer to Lord Geun-tae’s age to be honest, after all he’s the perfect model for my ideal man.”  
   
 _‘Again about Geun-tae?’_ Yona sweatdropped at that. “Anyway don’t say anything in front of the others ok? I’m still trying to figure out how to tell them…”  
   
“How long have you two been seeing each other?” Lily asked.  
   
“… Since after we parted the first time and I went ahead to Sensui with Jae-ha, right after we got attacked and I was still recovering from my back injury…” Yona admitted, blushing madly. “My wound reopened and since we were alone for once, we simply started talking and I finally just got it out of him that he was in love with me, and I couldn’t have been happier…” her eyes were shining just recalling that night. “I had recently figured out I was falling in love with him and thought it was one-sided, but when he admitted to feeling the same way I couldn’t help it… We…..”   
   
Lily blinked a few times, taking this in. “So…. What was it like?”  
   
 _“Huh?”_ Yona looked at her confused.  
   
“Oh come on Yona!” Lily blushed, looking at the princess directly. “Y-you know what I’m asking! W-what was it like to… D-do it?” she stammered, just as innocent as Yona was with saying the word sex directly.  
   
Yona felt like steam was coming out of her ears she was blushing so much now, but twirled her fingers in circles as she thought about her first time. “… I-it hurt a little bit at first but it got so much better after that… Jae-ha really knows what he’s doing with t-that and it felt wonderful… I thought my heart was going to explode at one point. And every time since then has just been….” She was searching for the word to describe it best but just settled for what came to her mind first. “… It feels like heaven every time he… M-makes… L-love to me…”  
   
Lily’s eyes widened. “W-wait you mean you’ve had it more than once already? And still been able to keep it a secret?”  
   
Yona nodded, giggling softly. “We meet up during his night watch sometimes and he… He gets to work on me really fast. One thing just leads to another and the next thing I know my brain is all fuzzy and all I can think about is how badly I want to be one with him… It feels so good each time, even though there are times he teases me too much with wanting me to ask for it…” she pouted a bit at the end. “I’ve never known true love until I was with him, what I felt for Soo-won pales in comparison. And Jae-ha gives me strength to go through all the hard times by just thinking about his love for me.”  
   
“Wow…. So is that why you never lost hope when we were captured?” Lily asked, a bit surprised at this. “I mean, I remember hearing you muttering something to yourself but I couldn’t make it out, and sometimes I swore you were zoning out and your mind was elsewhere.”  
   
“Yeah, you could say I just kept thinking about everything he’s said to me.” Yona admitted with a blush. “He’s really good to me Lily, and he makes me feel so loved… I didn’t know that many people back in the palace outside of Soo-won and Hak, and looking back they really were just like brothers to me, I just confused my feelings for Soo-won as real love… Now that I’ve experienced it, I don’t want to lose this happiness…” she then sighed. “But I know Hak and the others are going to react poorly…”  
   
Lily twisted her mouth. “Hey it’s your happiness, tell them to butt their noses out of your business.” She then stood up. “Bring ‘em over here I’ll help you!”  
   
“ **No Lily!** ” Yona cried, grabbing her from behind. “They’ll all just start fighting the minute they find out! Especially Hak, he’s going to want to kill Jae-ha when he figures it out!”  
   
“Sheesh do they have that bad of an opinion of their own friend?” Lily raised an eyebrow at that.  
   
“Well…. Jae-ha is a really big flirt after all…” Yona flushed and looked to the side. “He was a pirate before he joined us and makes a big deal about his freedom…”  
   
“But he loves you right?” Lily pressed. “I mean yeah I remember seeing that guy hit on women before but he does hang around you a lot, even when they were going to investigate the Red Light I remember him wanting to stay with you at first and keep you out of trouble just like the rest of those guys. Though honestly I thought maybe you liked Hak with the way you two...”  
   
“Oh not you too Lily!” Yona grumbled, letting her friend go as they sat back down. “I just explained to you that Hak is like a brother to me!”  
   
“ _Too?_ ” Lily blinked at that one.  
   
“Jae-ha thought I was in love with Hak, it’s why he was holding back his feelings at first.” Yona twisted her mouth as she explained. “Seriously we’ve been together for a really long time, it would be too late at this point to start over, besides the fact it’s clear Hak’s always looked at me like an annoying little sister.” She sighed and shook her head. “This is really embarrassing you know…” she admitted with her face flushed.  
   
“Hey this isn’t easy for me to talk about either you know.” Lily countered, blushing just as much. “But I’m glad to know stuff like this happens to you too…. And that you trust me enough to admit you’re in a secret romance… It sounds kind of exciting.” She chuckled.  
   
“Sometimes it can be, other times it gets difficult for me to speak or hold back my feelings when we’re in public…” Yona admitted, twirling her fingers again as she spoke. “I know that I blush too much when he's near me, and I keep having to remind myself to act normal and wait until later to kiss him… It’s really hard to hold back sometimes. Especially when I get stupidly jealous over little things like him bringing up beautiful women or cracking jokes about flirting…. Besides the others would get suspicious if he suddenly stopped being a flirt around other women but… It still bugs me. I mean I know that’s just the way he is, he isn’t going to stop admiring beautiful girls after all… He always assures me that it’s me he loves and that he’s just _‘appreciating beauty’_ as he calls it but I can’t help it, I get so jealous that it riles me up sometimes… But then he says things to me like going to the Red Light District doesn’t interest him anymore because he felt gloomy leaving my side…”  
   
“That sounds kind of cute actually, and romantic the way he assures you that he’s yours.” Lily replied. “I wish I was as lucky as you to have a love like that…”  
   
“Don’t give up Lily I’m sure you can find someone that isn’t married to fall in love with.” Yona giggled.  
   
“That’s right, rub it in further….” The Water General’s daughter grumbled. “You better be careful though with you two… Well…” she flushed as she didn’t know how to say it. “Doing you know…”  
   
Yona caught onto her meaning, blushing and nodding. “J-Jae-ha is always trying to be careful with me, he… Well…. Tries to make sure I don’t end up… You know.” She was dancing around the subject too, both girls blushing intensely as they didn’t want to say the words out loud.  
   
“A responsible pervert? That’s rare.” Lily chuckled at that. “I mean usually it’s the girls that worry about… Conception…”  
   
The princess smiled at that. “He’s a gentleman first, after all he takes pride in that.”  
   
“Gentleman yet he decides to do things to you when you were injured…” Lily remarked.  
   
“I pressed him into it the first time…” Yona admitted, blushing and looking away. “… He wanted to wait until my back healed but I didn’t think we’d find a way to be alone like that so I…” she buried her head into her hands. “… I told him I didn’t want to wait to become one with him...”  
   
“Wait so you made the first move? Wow that’s bold Yona!” Lily looked at her surprised.  
   
“It’s not easy you know! I get so embarrassed and it gets tight in my chest when I try to ask him for… For that!” Yona whimpered, still hiding her blushing face. “Not to mention there are times I just… Forget myself and do such embarrassing things that he’ll never let me live down and then try to get me to ask for it! But then he has this look when I finally do that just makes my heart want to explode… Not to mention when I-I tried something with his leg the other night and he… He…” she couldn’t continue, shaking her head while hiding her face. “It’s so embarrassing! I’m becoming a pervert around him I swear!”  
   
“Is it that bad?” Lily asked, blushing a bit just hearing about this. “I mean… Isn’t it normal to… Well, want that with the one you love?” she then raised her eyebrow as she processed the princess’ words. “What exactly do you mean by you tried something with his leg…?”  
   
Yona moved her hands from her face to look at her friend while still blushing madly. “Well… You’ve seen Kija’s hand right? Jae-ha’s right leg is like that but with green scales and he thinks it’s ugly, like so ugly that most of the time we… _Do things…_ He keeps his boots on.” She explained while pausing a few times to find the right wording. “When really it’s not ugly at all, and using that leg he just saved my life so I wanted to well…. S-show him that it wasn’t so unbeautiful as he calls it and… I did some weird things to it that I got _HIM_ to blush and get all flustered for once.” She looked to the side and smiled just remembering that look on her lover’s face while she worked on his leg. “… It was really weird but fun at the same time, like for once I could get back at him for all the teasing and he looked so…. **_Cute_**. My heart was pounding the whole time and it wasn’t easy to do, it was so embarrassing…”  
   
“S-so by weird what do you mean…?” Lily pressed, leaning a bit closer to her while still blushing. “Seriously Yona I want to know!”  
   
“Come on Lily I told you it’s embarrassing!” Yona protested, shaking her head. “I couldn’t even remember half of what I did if I tried! I just did what he always tells me follow instinct and then my brain gets all fuzzy and I do weird things that make me all warm inside and then that pressure starts that won’t release until he finally just gives in after I whimper enough for him to quit teasing me already but then he always has this smug look on his face telling me to ask for his dragon tail and then he pounces me and….” She was rambling by this point and realized it as she shut up.  
   
Lily just blinked a few times listening to all this, blushing as she tried to imagine it. “Yeah ummm I’m a bit lost with some of that but it sounds… Embarrassing but good at the same time…”  
   
“That’s what’s so irritating about it!” Yona huffed, crossing her arms and still blushing. “It feels weird and so wrong but so good at the same time! And there are times I feel like I’m going to explode if he keeps on teasing me like that but when I finally get relief it feels amazing… It’s the only reason I don’t beat his head in each time he looks so cocky when enjoying me whimpering…” she twisted her mouth. “He knows I want it but he keeps on insisting I _‘use my words’_ and such… He also keeps on asking me if I’m sure about it and to tell him when to stop but I keep on reminding him it feels too good to want to stop I’d have to be crazy to tell him that!” she flushed when she realized she let all this out. “…. You know Lily, it is kind of nice to finally be able to talk about this with someone.”  
   
Lily giggled a bit at that. “It’s interesting to talk to someone about this as well, I have to admit I’m… Curious what it’s like. But really Yona… It sounds like you love him a lot.”  
   
Yona blushed again and looked away. “… I do, with all my heart I love him.” She smiled and held a hand over her heart. “I want to stay by his side forever. He protects my heart just like he says I hold his as the princess of his heart.” Her eyes looked a bit dreamy just thinking about that.  
   
“He sure seems to have a way with words.” Lily commented, smiling at her. “Sure you don’t want me to talk to Hak maybe? I could try and ease him into the idea about you two being in a relationship…”  
   
“N-no please Lily!” Yona pleaded. “It’s my problem and I should be the one to tell Hak eventually. I just know he’s going to blow up and also be worried about me since he knows what happened the last time I fell in love…” she sighed and shook her head.  
   
“Well still if there’s anything you need, let me know.” Lily insisted as the two stood now. “I could help you figure out how to tell them maybe, you could start by just throwing it out there what if they started looking at you as a girl and not just a princess and just slowly bring up that you like him…”  
   
Yona waved her hands frantically. “R-really Lily it’s fine…”  
   
 _“Yona dear?”_  
   
 _“Princess?”_  
   
“ ** _KYAAAA!!!_** ” Lily and Yona shouted as they were startled by the two men that came up behind them.  
   
Jae-ha grinned wide as he winked at the girls. “My, my, my whatever gossip did we walk into here? If you’re talking about us we can leave you alone a bit longer, could it be Lily dear you’re trying to get Yona to rank her gorgeous traveling companions?”  
   
Hak grumbled and crossed his arms. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Droopy Eyes.” He then turned his attention to Yona. “Princess it’s about time to head back you know, before it gets too late.”  
   
“O-oh right! I’m ready.” Yona nodded, sighing as she turned to Lily. “We’re off then Lily, it was great to see you.”  
   
“Ah Yona…” Lily looked like she wanted to speak to her some more. “… Come back again, all right?”  
   
Yona nodded and waved as she walked over to Jae-ha who nodded. “Of course we will right Yona dear? After all the Water Tribe is such a lovely place with beauties.”  
   
Hak just turned to the Ryokuryuu with a glare. “No more places with girls for you here Droopy Eyes, that’s how you ended up taking drugs.”  
   
The Green Dragon sighed and shook his head. “Still on about that?” he then looked up as he noticed Lily was looking at him. _‘I wonder what those two were talking about…?’_ his eyes strayed to the princess in question that still had bright red cheeks that matched her hair.  
   
Lily couldn’t help but notice how Yona flushed a bit when she grabbed Jae-ha’s arm insisting they were going. _‘So that’s the person that’s most precious to Yona huh? He does a good job hiding their relationship in public that’s for sure.’_ But that’s when she remembered something and called to Hak who was about to join his traveling companions.  
   
“Hmmm? Where’s Hak?” Yona turned around after a moment and then noticed Lily was speaking to him. _‘Oh god please don’t tell me she’s trying to tell him-‘_  
   
“Looks like Lily dear is just thanking Hak for saving her life back at the gallows.” Jae-ha answered behind her, stroking her hair softly with one hand. “Have a nice talk with Lily? After all it’s good for girls to hang out together and gives you a break from being always around us, guys.” He chuckled.  
   
“It was nice, but I bet you enjoyed your beautiful company and drinks a lot better...” Yona replied a tad snappish as she turned the corner to head back towards their group.  
   
Since the building and trees around blocked anyone’s view of them Jae-ha suddenly grabbed her arm and yanked her over to turn her around and claim her lips into a passionate kiss before she could protest. She blushed madly but eagerly returned the kiss as he held her tightly in his arms. After a few moments, he broke the kiss while tracing her lips with his tongue. “… You’re absolutely adorable when you’re jealous, Yona love.” He purred.  
   
Yona flushed when he called her out on that, looking to the side. “… I-I’m not jealous, really.” She protested, but then caught the look in his eyes that he wasn’t buying that for one minute. “… Ok maybe a little bit, but I can’t help it ok! And I know you don’t mean it that’s just the way you are so there’s no point in me bringing it up it’s just silly in the first place that I let it bother-“ she was shushed with another deep kiss.  
   
When their lips parted the Ryokuryuu just poked her nose playfully. “There’s no need to be embarrassed about it Yona darling, it’s a natural reaction and just remember it’s you I always return to.” He smiled as he moved his hand to stroke her cheek. “But you can always assert your claim on me anytime you feel that jealousy creep up on you, and I’ll respond with showing you just how much I love you, princess of my heart.” He kissed her lips again briefly, then moved to kiss her other cheek.  
   
Yona just blushed a deeper shade of red from that. “…. We’re not alone enough to do that every time it happens.” She remarked, snuggling closer to him, she was obviously craving the contact as she hugged him tightly.  
   
Jae-ha just grinned at her response, kissing at her throat and stroking her hair. “So save it up for when we are alone and just let loose then love, I won’t mind. After all you’re so sexy when you’re a little bundle of lust ready to explode…” he purred into her ear.  
   
“ ** _JAE-HA!_** ” Yona smacked his shoulder, blushing madly as she quickly pulled away when she realized she yelled a bit too loud.  
   
“Droopy Eyes what the hell are you teasing the princess about now?” Hak’s voice could be heard around the corner as he was catching up with them. “Make yourself useful and help me carry this!”  
   
Yona stiffened when she realized how close they were to getting caught, a lump forming in her throat as she was trying desperately to get her heart and blush under control before her guardian saw them.  
   
The Green Dragon raised an eyebrow. “ _Carry what?_ ” he looked around the corner to see the Lightning Beast trying to carry a large crate wrapped up and being held by a rope. “What’s that?”  
   
“A gift from Lily.” Hak replied. “Food and supplies, Yoon will be pleased we won’t have to go get this ourselves now.” He then looked over the Ryokuryuu’s shoulder at the princess. “What did the pervert do this time and do I have to beat him back into line?”  
   
Yona flushed as she quickly shook her head. “N-no Hak it’s nothing.” She quickly said, trying to get control of herself and cursing that massive heat in her cheeks.   
   
“I was merely asking her what her little girl talk was about.” Jae-ha stepped in to cover their tracks. “After all I wanted to know if she was gossiping to Lily about a certain Thunder Beast that won’t admit his love for-“ He was cut off as Hak tossed his glaive at the Green Dragon, missing his head by less than an inch, stabbing into the tree right next to him. “… Hak, that got awful close you know.” He sweatdropped _. ‘If he nearly took my head off for just THAT tease, he’d really kill me if he knew the truth….’_ He shivered at the thought.  
   
“ _Tch_ , my hand slipped.” Hak clicked his tongue, glaring daggers at the Ryokuryuu. “Now get your ass over here and help already instead of pissing me off.”  
   
“Oh but your reactions are just golden Hak-kins.” Jae-ha chuckled, coming over to assist him. He hoped that the tease was enough to convince the Thunder Beast to drop the subject.  
   
Hak didn’t reply, he merely retrieved his weapon and kept it in one hand as if to remind the Green Dragon to watch it. He then looked to the bag he got from Lily with Yona’s belongings, but he really didn’t feel like giving the princess back that hairpin… In a way he wanted to just smash it into pieces but he knew it was important to Yona, he figured he might as well just give it to Yoon later and have him return it.  
   
“This was really nice of Lily I have to say.” Yona brought up, trying to change the subject.  
   
“Yeah she just wanted to thank us for saving her back at the gallows.” Hak shrugged, looking right at the princess. “You’re absolutely sure the pervert here didn’t do something…?”  
   
“My, my, Hak how terrible do you really think of me?” Jae-ha laughed, shaking his head.  
   
“It’s fine Hak he was just teasing me that’s all.” Yona replied, looking away _. ‘Get it together Yona… Or else Hak’s going to figure you out and then he’s going to slice Jae-ha into shreds.’_ She groaned when her stomach started protesting again. “Anyway let’s find Yoon and the others I can’t wait for dinner!” she quickly said, running a bit ahead.  
   
“Watch it with that ankle princess- She’s not listening to me.” Hak groaned as he facepalmed when he saw the princess run up to their group and stumble, nearly falling over but Kija and Shin-ah caught her just in time.  
   
“That’s our lovely Yona, always rushing head first into danger and not heeding our warnings.” Jae-ha laughed at that one. “You weren’t kidding when you told me being her bodyguard isn’t easy.”  
   
“These days it’s so bad she needs an army of dragons just to keep her safe, and even then she still manages to get into trouble.” Hak grumbled, looking to the side sadly. “Why in a town in which people were rumored to disappear did I trust someone we just met with her…?” Obviously he was still blaming himself for what had happened. “I was so naïve, I’m ashamed.”  
   
Jae-ha frowned at that one, he felt similar to the Lightning Beast in that regard. “… It’s hard to doubt someone who is kind to you.” He said, reaching his free hand to pat Hak’s shoulder. “You weren’t the only one that was naïve about it, we all were. And we all got driven crazy with worry trying to find her. Zeno and I were lucky, had we been just a few minutes later.…” He stiffened, his heart stopped at the mere thought of losing Yona, the woman he’d come to love dearly more than anyone else in the world.  
   
“Yeah…. But you saved her.” Hak said as he looked at the Ryokuryuu. “You were there when I couldn’t be. That wasn’t easy you know, trusting you to find her when we didn’t see her at the other fort.”  
   
“You make it sound like I’m untrustworthy Hak, I’m hurt.” The Green Dragon faked a tear to lighten the mood.  
   
“Who was it that got drugged when we first came to the Water Tribe?” the Lightning Beast growled.  
   
Jae-ha sweatdropped. “…. You are never going to let me live that down, are you?”  
   
“Not until the lesson fully sinks in and you never do something as stupid as that ever again.” Hak replied with a hiss. “Because I’ll be reminding myself everyday of each mistake I make, I swore I’d protect her and I nearly failed again.” He clutched his glaive hard. “I need to stay more alert…”  
   
 _‘Yeah REALLY not a good time to let you know about Yona dear and I…’_ Jae-ha thought to himself, shivering from the bloodlust radiating off the Thunder Beast. _‘Each time I think he’s about to relax a bit enough that she can tell him something like this happens that gets him ready to snap at a moment’s notice. It’s alright though, I can wait as long as she needs after all her staying happy is what’s most important…’_ the Green Dragon smiled as they approached the rest of their group. He then chuckled when he caught Yona looking at him with a blush that she quickly tried to hide, obviously that kiss left her wanting more but she had to act normal around their group for now. Jae-ha strolled over and pet her on the head, giving her a wink that clearly told her what she needed. _‘I’ll make it up to you tonight, Yona dear.’_

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be eventually AUing Chapter 123 too, as the outcome will be different from the Sei Arc as Yona didn't fall in love with Hak in this version of the story. As always leave suggestions for other chapters to AU in this series ^^ Also I couldn't help but throw in the small hints of Yona's upcoming pregnancy reveal in this point of the story.


End file.
